Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. Check out the last entry: If the Superman Trailer Moved You, It’s Time to Check Out the Arrowverse.
On December 26, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced that Wicked would be available for purchase or rent at home as of December 31, with the physical release hitting February 4 of 2025. The digital and physical versions are packed with goodies, including deleted scenes (one of which I discussed with director Jon M. Chu in the video below), a singalong, two commentary tracks — one with Chu and one with stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande — and a ton more. There’s no question of the value here (even if you don’t actually own anything you purchase digitally), but what has come up is whether or not it’s too soon for the theatrical wonder to offer an at-home option with how well it’s doing at the box office, with the digital release falling barely a month after the film opened in theaters.
I am of two minds here.
The first is that I really like movie theaters, so of course I want them to continue to get what they can out of any blockbuster hit available. I know this in and of itself is a complicated conversation, given how expensive corporations and studios have made seeing things theatrically over the years is coupled with incessantly abhorrent behavior from theater-goers (put the damn phone away). But, to that I mostly just say visit your mom-and-pop theaters whenever and wherever you can. Big releases like Wicked help them tremendously too.
The flip side of this conversation is way more complicated. Yes, I want movie theaters — particularly smaller ones — to survive, and they need every single win that they can get in this day and age, but I also want the people who cannot attend movie theaters to be able to experience art.
One day, probably decades from now at this rate, sociologists will look back at how we as a culture didn’t just decide COVID was no longer a problem, we left everyone incapable of living in that delusion behind. We, as a whole, have even largely abandoned masking, despite knowing that masks help mitigate the spread of COVID and other viruses as scientific fact. In conjunction with that, vaccination rates keep getting lower.
I’m not here to preach, and I’m not here to have a debate. The fact of the matter is that COVID remains a tremendous risk for anyone who is immunocompromised, and long-COVID can impact anyone. Because of this, there are significant swaths of communities across the planet that simply cannot afford to risk their health over stepping foot into a movie theater with abysmal ventilation and a bunch of unmasked occupants.
Additionally, attending the movies simply isn’t an expense that many American families can afford with prices being what they are. Even matinees are enormous expenditures in major metros across the country. In L.A., a trip to AMC for a family of four (two parents, two children) will run you an astronomical $110.72. I can’t drop that every time I want to go see a movie, and I can’t expect others to do so when they’ve got mouths to feed.
Of course, there’s always the understanding that this is a business decision on Universal’s part, and that decision is ultimately beholden to the almighty dollar. Because of that, it may seem obtuse to consider the people who cannot afford to attend. But, in this instance, I believe that impact matters more than intent. Whether or not the decision is financial or otherwise, it is still easier for a family to afford a single rental or digital purchase than it is for them to pay for a trip to the movies.
I want movie theaters to survive, but I also want people to be able to see movies. I wish we lived in a world where it was easy to say that Wicked should keep taking up screens for as long as it’s financially viable for theaters but there’s way more to the conversation than that. It’s because of the human element that I just can’t say that it’s too soon for Wicked to be rushing to digital release. Everyone deserves their one short day in Oz. (Even if the wizard is a tyrant.)
